Mildred Jean Forrest

Tom Forrest sent me this photo of my grandmother, Mildred Jean Forrest (1915-2006). She always went by “Jean” and I didn’t know until I started doing family research that she had been named for her aunt Mildred Nason Cairns. My father said that she hated the nickname “Millie”, so she went by Jean.

As I’ve said before, I don’t have many memories of my father’s parents. They came down to Wisconsin to visit on a couple of occasions (once for my High School graduation) and my sister and I went up to Saint Albans, Vermont to spend a week or two with them during summer vacation on at least two occasions. They also came down for my father’s second wedding. I remember my grandmother as a somewhat strict but warm woman. She seemed tall (to me) with white hair. She used to make us “Fluffernutter” sandwiches if we were good (peanut butter and marshmallow fluff on white bread). She always seemed to be doing housework or cooking in the kitchen. She was always smiling and laughing at whatever we kids were doing. If you got hurt, she could handle it. I have memories of her and my grandfather watching baseball on the living-room TV while they sipped hard-liquor out of glasses on their TV trays. She always wore house-dresses and sort of orthopedic-style shoes.

I know she was a nurse for the county or state school system for many years and that’s how she met my grandfather. He owned a service station and she brought the car she was given to drive for her job in to his station to be maintained. He invited her to go horseback riding. The rest is history. She and my grandfather lived at 3 Calo Court in Saint Albans basically from sometime in the 40’s until the day they died. Despite being relatively healthy, my grandfather died only a few months after his wife did.

Here’s the photo. She looks to be about 16 years old to me.

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About cthomas1967

Seeking to bring my ancestors out of the shadows of history and into the light.
I have always been interested in history, and at a few different times I tried to do a family tree, but wasn't able to do it with the technology that was available then. On a business trip I visited the World War I Museum in Kansas City, MO and it was a very impressive establishment. While I was there I remember thinking, "Didn't my great-grandfather father fight in World War I? And wasn't his brother killed alongside him in some famous battle? I wonder if I can find out where he died." That's what started it all.
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